Haslam's financial holdings include condos, dude ranch

Gov. Bill Haslam and a longtime friend, an Alabama pain doctor, own two Florida seaside condominiums valued at some $4 million, according to public records and a recently filed ethics disclosure statement.

The condos, which were purchased in 2008 for a combined total of $3.9 million, are rental properties, according to David Smith, a Haslam spokesman.

The condos are held in the name of two separate companies, Hasbitt II and Hasbitt III, both incorporated in Florida. Smith said there was no Hasbitt I. One of the condos, at 2,617 square feet, was purchased for $2.6 million. The second, at 1,573 square feet, went for $1.3 million.

Smith noted that the governor has disclosed his interest in those two entities since 2008, but just what the companies own has not been previously disclosed.

The condos are in a development called Lyceum Gateway in Santa Rosa Beach. The governor's friend and partner is Dr. Robert W. Nesbitt, who runs a pain and anesthesiology practice in Alabama.

Recently released data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show Nesbitt billed Medicare for $1.56 million in 2012 and collected $164,870. That put him in the top 5 percent of doctors in his specialty, anesthesiology.

Nesbitt could not be reached for comment.

Smith said that since Haslam has placed most of his other assets in a blind trust he does not personally know what the trust owns.

A glimpse of those assets, however, can be found in Securities and Exchange Commission records.

Filings for a California company, William Lyon Homes, show that Haslam's blind trust owned 161,330 shares in the company when the housing firm was making a public offering. The trust was listed as one of the sellers. The trust does not appear in any filings after April 2, 2013.

Smith said Haslam doesn't know about William Lyon Homes or any of the trust's other holdings.

Other Haslam investments listed on his disclosure include Lost Valley Ranch. Smith said Haslam's family has been going to the Colorado dude ranch since his children, now in their 20s, were little.

Haslam and his wife also own stock in the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain through their respective IRA accounts.

The Haslam family holds a controlling interest in the Pilot Flying J Travel Center chain, which was founded by his father and is now headed by his brother Jim. Pilot and several related companies appear on his list of investments.

Haslam has declined to disclose details of his personal interest in Pilot, contending that to do so would invade the privacy of other Haslam family members. He listed it on his disclosure form but did not provide the number of shares or percentage.